Grieving mother scammed out of $10K for son's grave marker

MONROE, NC (FOX 46 WJZY) - A grieving mother said she was taken for $10,000 when she tried to order a nice grave marker for her son. Zoe Koutsogoulas' son died on March 29, 2016. He was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery.

All Koutsogoulas wanted was a beautiful blue granite Greek monument to honor his life, but she says she got swindled.

“George Koutsogoulas. Wow. A lot of friends! Too many friends. Everybody love him,” Koutsogoulas said of her son.

Her son, George, died at a young age.

“But, he have cancer and he kill himself,' Koutsogoulas said.

Koutsogoulas relied on her son a lot and didn't have much, but she did have the $10,000 he left her.

“I say that's his money. I'm going to get him beautiful cross," she said.

She liked one particular grave marker she saw in the cemetery. The person who bought it put her in touch with Tunis Selby at Memorial Design Concepts.

“Pictures on his computer. Yes, he has business with his grandmother," she said.

Koutsogoulas said he requested $10,000 in cash. She was apprehensive, but after talking to the person who recommended Selby, she obliged. That’s when the trouble began.

“Pretty soon going to come. When? Pretty soon," she said.

A year and a half later, a piece of hard plastic is all that marks her son's grave and the phone numbers on her sales pamphlet no longer work.

FOX 46 Charlotte went to the address listed on the pamphlet, and it brought our crew to a house in Matthews. At first, the woman who answered the door said she didn't know the business or the salesman, but when our crew went back a second time, her memory improved.

“I'm not going to give you any numbers until I talk to my attorney. I have to find out what I have to say,” the woman told FOX 46’s Morgan Frances.

She didn't reveal her name but referred to a completely different company called Monroe Monument. The woman said that the monument is done, and explained it just needed to be delivered. She couldn't give an answer on where it was, but FOX 46 is going to find out.